In Andhra Pradesh, Tata Power Renewable is planning to bid for SECI’s 500MW projects at Kadapa Solar Park. Photo: AFP

Mumbai: Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd (TPREL) is eyeing upcoming solar power auctions for 1,200MW in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka for Rs6,100 crore, two people aware of the development said.

In Andhra Pradesh, TPREL is planning to bid for Solar Energy Corp. of India’s (SECI) 500MW projects at Kadapa Solar Park. In Karnataka, it plans to bid for 700MW solar photovoltaic projects.

“This is in response to the competitive bidding process by SECI for setting up of two solar power projects of 250MW each at Kadapa Solar Park in Andhra Pradesh at a project cost of around Rs2,600 crore,” said the first of the two people cited above.

TPREL, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Power Co. Ltd, develops, constructs and operates wind and solar power assets.

Tata Power did not respond to an email sent on 23 April.

SECI in January announced two separate tenders for grid-connected solar power projects in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. It has tendered 200MW of grid-connected solar projects to be developed at the Pavagada Solar Park in Tumkur, Karnataka. The bid-submission deadline, which was in February, has since been extended to April 2018. A single bidder can bid for a minimum of 50MW and a maximum of 200MW capacity.

SECI has also tendered 750MW of solar projects at the Kadapa Solar Park. The last date of bid submission was end of February but has been “extended till further notice,” SECI says on its website. A single bidder can bid for a minimum 250MW and maximum 750MW capacity.

The projects will be developed on a ‘build own operate’ basis and SECI will sign a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with the bidders. The PPA is expected to be signed within one month from the date of issue of Letter of Intent (LoI).

“SECI will sell the power to the state distribution companies (discoms) in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, said SECI said on its website.

In Karnataka, TPREL plans to bid for SECI’s proposed 200MW solar project and Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd’s (KREDL) 500MW in Pavagada Solar Park at a cost of around Rs1,056 crore and Rs2,450 crore, respectively. SECI’s solar projects would be four in number with a capacity of 50MW and that of KREDL’s would be 10 power plants of 50MW each.

According to Mercom Communications India, a subsidiary of Mercom Capital Group, renewable energy capacity additions continue to gain momentum in India and accounted for 20.32% of India’s capacity mix at the end of 2017-18. This is a substantial increase from the previous 17.5% share reported at the end of 2016-17, mainly due to the growth in solar.

Solar power accounts for over 22GW of the total installed capacity in India, representing 6.59% of overall capacity addition. Solar recorded the largest increase with capacity installations rising 89% year-over-year. The share of solar capacity grew from 3.76% as of March 2017 to 6.59% as of March 2018. Coal was the second most installed energy source but was less than half of solar with 5GW installed compared to 10GW of solar installations. Coal additions declined by 28% on year.